Colorado Senate approves bill adding rules for gun stores

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(The Center Square) – The Colorado Senate on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill adding more regulations to gun stores operating in the state.

House Bill 26-1126, titled “Requirements for Firearms Dealers,” was approved on its third reading in a 20 to 15 vote, sending it to Gov. Jared Polis' desk to be signed into law.

The bill directs the Department of Revenue to adopt new security rules for gun dealers, which must adopt the measures and submit a plan to the state by Oct. 1 next year. It would also require gun dealers to keep an electronic record of firearm transfers and would allow the state to fine gun dealers up to $75,000 for some violations.

Republicans and gun rights groups argue the legislation is part of a larger effort by Democrats to chip away at Second Amendment rights and make it harder and more expensive to buy firearms. Democrats control both houses of the General Assembly, Colorado's legislature, and the governor is a Democrat.

“This bill is presented as a modest dealer regulation,” Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, R-El Paso County, said before the bill passed. “It is in fact a multi-pronged assault on the constitutional rights of Colorado’s law-abiding gun owners and the small business owners who serve them.”

“It builds – without using the work – a functional firearm registry accessible to state agencies without warrant or cause,” she added. “It imposes compliance costs that will drive small dealers out of business and reduce access to lawful firearm purchases.”

The Senate also passed HB 26-1302, which will allow the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to determine its own operating hours for running background checks.

Democrats argue their efforts so far this session will reduce violence involving firearms.

“Regulatory updates happen when we stand up a department of qualified individuals, send them to work, and listen to what they have to say – and these bills do exactly that,” Sen. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins, who sponsored both bills, said in a written statement. “I’m proud to sponsor these two bills to optimize the use of our resources, shore up protections against firearm theft, and ultimately stop preventable acts of gun violence before they occur.”

The Colorado State Shooting Association told The Center Square in an emailed statement that HB 26-1126 “does nothing to enhance public safety and instead targets Colorado’s Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) with burdensome, duplicative regulations designed to punish law-abiding small businesses and drive them out of the state.”

“This legislation forces FFLs to maintain expanded state-mandated records for every retail firearm transaction — records that largely duplicate existing federal requirements — while subjecting dealers to new state permitting, training, security, and reporting mandates,” Daniel Fenlason, CSSA’s operations director, added. "The cumulative effect is a regulatory thicket that small gun shops simply cannot survive, accelerating the exodus of firearm retailers from Colorado and limiting lawful access for responsible gun owners.”

Fenlason said CSSA is exploring all options to overturn HB 26-1126 if it’s signed into law.

The Senate also passed HB 26-1265 on Tuesday. The bill requires law enforcement agencies in Colorado to register with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ eTrace system.

Colorado Democrats this session have also passed bills that will expand the state’s “Red Flag” gun law and ban 3D-printed firearms and components. They’re also considering a bill to require any gun barrel purchases to go through a gun dealer.